All Children Grow Up. All, except One.

I was brought up on Peter Pan - I think it started with the collection of Disney books I had.. correction, my sister had, and which was handed down to me. I still remember most of them - Snow White and The Seven Dwarves - Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, .. forgotten the rest of the names. And then there were the Aristocats .. I used to love the cute little white girl-cat with the pretty pink bow on the collar and lovely long lashes.. The prince in Sleeping Beauty was oh-so handsome, (the next most handsome Disney fairy-tale prince after Cinderella), and then Mowgli and Baloo in the Jungle Book using fire to defeat SherKhan. Of course Bambi was a darling, as was the cute little bunny friend, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet and ofcourse Christopher Robin..

And then there was Peter Pan. I still recall the large yellow hardbound book, with Pan's picture on top - wearing his green suit, and feathered hat and the flute in his hand... And of course Captain Hook. I think I fell in love with him totally when I read the unabridged version by J.M. Barrie.

"All children grow up. All except one." That was the first line of the book. And ever since I've always wanted to fly beyond the stars, beyond the sunset - right into Neverland. I can still close my eyes and imagine the pool of shapeless colours that grows vivid till it dances in the flames, and then disappears before I can glimpse the beauty beyond.

Sometimes I like to believe that within everybody there is a part which never grows up - only some people grow up more than others, and some like me don't grow up at all. I like the thought of growing up - of doing so many things, of falling in love and being with the man I love, of so many nice things that would happen to me, so many beautiful places that I would go to... But if you are observant, you'd understand that to me this is the future, the things yet to come. Somewhere in my mind I haven't yet grown-up and somewhere within me I never will.

"Dreams that in their kernels sleep" - that's my life... Perhaps someday I will have grown up, and someday I'd do all the things my heart desires - after all, "To live would be an adventure"....